It was through a stream of the (very) beautiful PC version that I discovered the title of The Farm 51, Chernobylite. The title is rather equivocal and refers directly to Chernobyl, 30 years after the disaster. We embody Igor, who sets foot in Pripyat to investigate his fiancée who disappeared shortly after the explosion of the reactor, who appears to our character and talks to her, even influencing her in her quest. What is this little radioactive stay in Ukraine worth? Answer in the following lines.
The teleportation portal we use will sometimes take us through this type of area.
Chernobylite establishes its atmosphere from the first moments, and quickly shows its attraction for the supernatural and horror. We're not talking about crappy horror, but rather a palpable tension in the atmosphere and very disturbing passages that will cause some palpitations, and will sometimes remind STALKER! Between the appearances of the wife here and there, the strange behavior of certain NPCs and the Geiger counters which panic as soon as we take a wrong step, we will not often feel comfortable while wandering in the Zone of Exclusion. And yet, you will spend time in the latter... To collect various and varied resources, to advance the scenario or to recruit 2-3 onlookers to help you enter the plant.
The only place where you will feel comfortable is in your base. In order to achieve his ends, an acquaintance of Igor lends him a bunker which acts as a hub. We will finally spend a lot of time there, thanks to a routine which is as follows: wake up -> mission planning -> send some recruits to accomplish certain tasks -> departure on mission -> return to base and sleep. It's simplified to the extreme, but it gives an overview of what we will experience daily in the game. However, it's rather well designed and I personally have not been bothered by the repetitive side that can get clear of the title after a few hours. It must be said that we hardly have time to get bored. Taking care of planning everything and taking care of your team will require a lot of effort, especially if you ensure that there is no "favoritism". The acolytes who live with you are not often very friendly, and do not hesitate to let you go if they feel that they are not "pampered" enough.
It's this woman we'll be looking for throughout our adventure
To make their daily lives more pleasant, we must ensure that they are well fed, treated if they are injured, and the bunker properly furnished so that they can feel comfortable and relax. The housing/management side is really well done, and comes with a lot of constraints. For example, I was amazed at the very beginning to see that a simple small television was stranding my electrical installation. So I had to go on a mission to collect enough to build a generator that can turn on the television and let everyone enjoy it.
Where the game surprises a little is in its proposal, I expected to have a rather classic first-person shooter, and that's actually what we have in our hands. However, stealth will prevail, the enemies are generally more numerous than you, and you will be idle during your first hours of play. We will therefore prefer to bypass his last, at least the time to learn some skills that will allow Igor to defend more easily. Note also that the skill system is unconventional, since it is through your crew that you will unlock your talents. This is manifested by a small mission asking you to put into practice what we are trying to teach you. Nice the first time. Then repulsive.
We have a view of our play area.. Which is compartmentalized into "small" levels
On the technical side, the shoe pinches. Very clearly, I was not expecting the same rendering as what I saw on PC. However, I expected more. I played at Chernobylite on PS5, via PS4 backward compatibility, and I was treated to many technical pitfalls, despite the (logical) graphic downgrade linked to the console port. It begins with the tearing of images, simply ubiquitous. It's simple, almost every camera movement tears the image... I would like to say that I exaggerate, but I don't. The fluidity is also challenged quite often and the 30FPS wobbles a little too regularly (sometimes below 20fps) for my taste.
Chernobylite, it's a game like you rarely see. With its guttural Russian voices (or English voices, less convincing) and its heavy and unique atmosphere, it clearly deserves an interested look. However, due to its many technical shortcomings, I advise you to be patient and wait for the next-gen versions, already confirmed by the studio, or to turn to the PC version, already available since July 2021 on Steam!
